Headlines from around the world in sports

NEW YORK – New York Knicks point guard Raymond Felton was arraigned on two weapons possession charges after a lawyer for his wife turned in a loaded semi-automatic handgun to a Manhattan precinct.

Felton did not enter a plea in Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday following his early morning arrest at a stationhouse. He was released on $25,000 bail.

Prosecutors charged Fenton with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm. A judge ordered him not to have contact with his wife. His lawyer says he has no plans to. They’re getting divorced.

Police said the gun was delivered to a stationhouse Monday before the Knicks’ loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

Prosecutors said the unregistered, Belgian-made FN Herstal pistol was loaded with 18 rounds of ammunition in a magazine.

NBA

James expects to rejoin Heat lineup tomorrow

MIAMI – LeBron James stood in the corner of the Miami Heat practice gym, cursing but grinning after missing another 3-point shot, then flopped to the hardwood and did a push-up as self-imposed punishment.

Teammates watched and laughed as the sequence repeated several times, a sure sign their MVP is feeling better.

James took part in non-contact drills yesterday and said he should be able to rejoin the lineup tomorrow against the New York Knicks. He missed Sunday’s victory over the Chicago Bulls after breaking his nose in the previous game.

James dispensed with the bandage he wore late last week and said his headaches have subsided. But he’s not yet ready for contact drills and is still in a little pain while the nose heals.

“Every day is better,” he said. “I haven’t been hit on it either. That definitely helps.”

NFL

Panthers say Gross will announce retirement

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Carolina Panthers said that offensive tackle Jordan Gross will announce his retirement at a news conference today.

Gross, 33, was a first-round pick by Carolina in 2003 and started 167 games – all for the Panthers. He went to his third Pro Bowl this past season as an alternate.

Gross’ contract had expired with the Panthers this offseason, but there was still some question as to his return. He went on vacation with his family last week in Utah to contemplate whether or not to retire.

The decision creates a void for the Panthers at left tackle.

Baseball

Tanaka to pitch for first time Saturday

TAMPA, Fla. – Masahiro Tanaka is scheduled to make his New York Yankees debut Saturday.

Yankees Manager Joe Girardi made the announcement yesterday after New York beat Florida State University, 8-3.

Tanaka signed a $155 million, seven-year contract in January. He was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last year while leading the Rakuten Golden Eagles to the Japan Series title.

Tanaka and Hiroki Kuorda will follow starter CC Sabathia in Saturday’s game against Philadelphia at Steinbrenner Field.

Girardi said with off days, it gets kind of tricky lining up the rotation and that having all three pitch the same day is how pitching coach Larry Rothschild set things up.

All three are expected to throw two innings or 35 pitches.

Baseball

Cardinals’ Garcia to seek second opinion on shoulder

JUPITER, Fla. – Jaime Garcia will seek a second opinion on his surgically repaired shoulder from Dr. James Andrews before deciding his next course of action, St. Louis General Manager John Mozeliak said yesterday.

Garcia requested the second opinion even before consulting with Cardinals team doctors.

Mozeliak didn’t go into detail about the findings of Garcia’s Monday exam, other to say that the initial results were encouraging.

“Based on the MRI and overall, we feel good,” Mozeliak said. “I would like to see what the other doctor has to say and we will go from there.”

Golf

Elkington makes disparaging tweet about Sam

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Former PGA champion Steve Elkington caused more outrage on Twitter when he made a disparaging remark about Missouri defensive end Michael Sam while trying to criticize coverage of him.

Sam announced two weeks ago that he is gay. He worked out this week at the NFL combine in Indianapolis and is projected as a mid- to late-round pick in the draft.

Elkington first tweeted that ESPN’s coverage of Sam was embarrassing. He followed with this tweet: “ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine ... No one else expected to throw today.”

Elkington later deleted his tweet and said he supported Sam.

The PGA Tour said yesterday in a statement that public commentary that is clearly inappropriate falls under its regulations of conduct unbecoming a professional.

Golf

Rose withdraws from Honda Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – U.S. Open champion Justin Rose withdrew from the Honda Classic to rest his right shoulder.

Rose first hurt his shoulder last August during The Barclays. While he played out the remainder of the year, it forced him to wait until the Northern Trust Open at Riviera two weeks ago to play for the first time.

Rose said physical therapy is helping the tendinitis in his right shoulder, but he felt that four weeks in a row of tournament golf would be too much.

He plans to play next week at the Cadillac Championship, where Rose is a past champion.

Tennis

Djokovic wins, Del Potro retires in Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Novak Djokovic opened the defense of his Dubai Championships title with a straight sets victory over Denis Istomin, while second-seeded Juan Martin del Potro had to retire from his first-round match yesterday.

Top-seeded Djokovic, who is making only his second appearance this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over 54th-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan.

Djokovic saved all four break points he faced on serve and broke Istomin three times – in the third and ninth games of the first set and in the second game of the second set.

Del Potro was not so fortunate, being forced to retire against Somdev Devvarman of India after losing the first-set tiebreaker 7-6 (3).

Devvarman, a wild card who won a challenger in New Delhi last week, hit a service winner on his third set point in the tiebreaker. That proved to be the final point of the match.

ACAPULCO, Mexico – Third-seeded John Isner became the first upset of the Mexican Open, losing, 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5) to Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic in the first round yesterday.

Karlovic served 15 aces and Isner fired eight in a matchup between two of the game’s biggest servers that was decided by a record-equaling eight consecutive tie-breaks..

“I.m very disappointed, obviously,” a visibly upset Isner said after the match. “I wanted to do well in here, is a good surface for me, but I played against a guy who played well against me”.

The 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Karlovic now has a 3-2 career record against the 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Isner, who.s ranked 13th in the world.

Joao Sousa of Portugal came back to defeat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to a second-round encounter against the winner of the later match between Andy Murray and Pablo Andujar.

South Africa’s Kevin Anderson downed Stephane Robert of France, 6-2 , 7-6 (7) and will next play America’s Sam Querrey, while Spaniard Feliciano Lopez had a 6-4, 6-2 victory over France’s Edouard Roger-Vasselin.